6. Debate on the Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee report: UK governance post Brexit

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:59 pm on 28 February 2018.

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Photo of Mick Antoniw Mick Antoniw Labour 3:59, 28 February 2018

Thank you. Well, firstly, I thank the Counsel General on behalf of the Government for the very positive response that's been made to what is a very radical report. I'd like to thank all the speakers who have contributed, and I won't go through them one by one because I think all the comments made have been positive and made a significant contribution to, really, the steps that have been taken and are being taken across all the Parliaments to actually look at a way of making the constitution of the United Kingdom reformed and actually work.

And in particular, the reference to a Speakers' conference, because I believe, Llywydd, with your pursuance of this matter, that this is a radical but, as I say, a not-without-precedent step. It also enables us to pull together the views that are coming from all the constitutional committees, cross-party committees, that have one sole objective, and that is: in the post-Brexit environment, how do we ensure that we have better governance, how do we replace the changed governance that we have? And I think that is the particular strength. I say 'not without precedent', because, as discussed by the Counsel General earlier, there was a 1920 conference on devolution, a Speakers' conference. Unfortunately, its findings were never discussed in the House of Commons. Otherwise, devolution might have taken place much, much sooner.

But one of the recommendations was not only in terms of the short term and the longer term reform, but also the capacity of the Speakers of all the Parliaments of the United Kingdom to actually pursue what we all know needs to happen, and that is that there has to be a consideration of the whole of the UK constitution, a UK constitutional convention of some format. And also to look at and deal with the 'elephant in the room', as it was described by John Morris so many years ago, and that is the English question as a fundamental part of resolving the relationships on a permanent and sustainable basis. 

For those who say there may be fear about these proposals coming from Wales and so on, all I'd say is these proposals haven't just come from Wales. We are endorsing, effectively, proposals from all around the UK, and perhaps I'd refer back to the comments from the great Welsh MP Cledwyn Hughes in 1973, during the Kilbrandon report, when the issue of the English question was raised and he answered the Prime Minister as follows. He said:

'Is the Prime Minister aware that we who belong to the Celtic fringe will do all we can to protect the English interest in this matter?'

This is a matter that is of benefit to us all, of concern to us all, for the future. I'm very grateful that such a positive response has been received from Government. I look forward, Llywydd, to you taking, hopefully, the steps forward to engage with the other Speakers of the United Kingdom and to call the Speakers' conference and to kick start this constitutional reform process.